Over 120 Escape Death As Aero Flight 180 From Lagos To Kaduna Develops Fault Mid-Air

Over
120 passengers, including the Director, Muslim Rights Concern, Prof. Ishaq
Akintola, on Friday [Jun 5] evening escaped death as an Aero Contractors
Airline Flight 180 from Lagos to Kaduna developed technical fault mid-air. The
aircraft was said to have suddenly lost altitude, 20 minutes after it departed
the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, forcing the aircraft
to wobble in the air for over one hour before it was eventually diverted to
Abuja.

Akintola,
who broke the news to New Mail, said the flight took off from Lagos at exactly
6.30pm. He said 20 minutes into the flight, the aircraft lost altitude and the
passengers had to make use of the oxygen masks as the plane continued to
wobble, while dropping steadily.

Akintola
said, “The plane lost altitude 20 minutes after takeoff. We had to make use of
the oxygen masks. We saw smoke outside the plane, probably coming from the
engine compartment. At this time, the whole plane was thrown into commotion.
Many passengers screamed and some fainted. Prayers upon prayers were offered.
Some shouted Allah, others Jesus.”

Akintola
said it was in the midst of the commotion that the crew, whom he commended for
their professionalism and unusual calmness, announced that the plane would be
diverted to Abuja. He said, “While the pilot was making the announcement of the
flight diversion, I noticed that his voice was trembling. He told us that Abuja
was 120 miles away and that we would land in 25 minutes. But we were not sure
we would make it.

“In
fact, I quickly recited the Kalimah (the Quranic invocation of the oneness of
Allah), believing that the end had come,” Akintola added in messages to New
Mail. He
said that the plane finally touched down in Abuja at about 9.00pm and upon
landing in Abuja, the officials of the airline told the devastated passengers
that the fault would be hurriedly repaired and that the plane would proceed to
take them to Kaduna, their original destination. As of the time he spoke with
New Mail at about 9.30pm, he said he was already in a taxi taking him from
Abuja to Kaduna as he could not risk being “flown in the same aircraft that was
divinely saved from crashing.”

When
PUNCH called Akintola at about 11pm, he confirmed the incident and said he was
about entering Kaduna. He said, “When the aircraft wanted to land in Abuja, the
tyres failed to come out on time and that again caused more commotion among
passengers.

A
statement by the airline read, “Aero confirms that there was depressurisation
in the aircraft cabin leading to the dropping of oxygen mask. And since Aero
has a maintenance facility in Abuja, the flight to Kaduna was diverted to Abuja
this evening to fix the problem.”